1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus and a control method therefor, and particularly to an image pickup apparatus that determines a shooting scene based on a video signal and automatically determines the most suitable shooting mode for the shooting scene among a plurality of shooting modes, a control method therefor, and a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for implementing the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, image pickup apparatuses such as digital cameras and video cameras have become increasingly automated, and there have been developed image pickup apparatuses which have the function of automatically switching between shooting modes according to scenes shot by a user. Examples of the function of automatically switching between shooting modes include switching between shooting modes by determining a face and motion of a subject (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-344891). In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-344891, the technique that a shooting mode for a camera is set based on information output from a face recognition means for recognizing whether or not a subject includes a face, and a means for detecting a state of the subject.
However, in conventional image pickup apparatuses, the time elapsing from when a shooting scene is determined to when a shooting mode is determined is fixed irrespective of user's intent. When the time elapsing from when a shooting scene is determined to when a shooting mode is determined is too short, problems explained hereafter arise. For example, when moving images are being taken, shooting modes are changed at short time intervals every time shooting conditions such as the focal length of a lens and a face and motion of a subject change, which deteriorates the stability of taken images, and thus images desired by the user cannot be taken. Also, when the time elapsing from when a shooting scene is determined to when a shooting mode is determined is too long, the responsiveness of shooting modes decreases when a user purposefully changes shooting conditions, and thus images desired by the user cannot be taken.